Houston jobless rate dips in February

Updated 10:50 am, Friday, March 29, 2013

Strong job gains in durable goods manufacturing, construction and oil and gas exploration and production helped the Houston area to sustain its record of rapid growth.

Houston area employers added 118,700 jobs between February 2012 and February 2013, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday. That represents a year-over-year growth of 4.5 percent.

That is virtually the same level of job creation the commission reported for the previous 12 months that ended in January.

The commission also reported Friday that the Houston area unemployment rate edged down in February to 6.3 percent, compared to 6.7 percent in January.

Local data are not adjusted for seasonal fluctuations such as school schedules and major holidays which can cause big shifts in the unemployment rate.

However state-wide data are adjusted for those typical seasonal shifts and in Texas, the unemployment rate for February was 6.4 percent, up from 6.3 percent in January.

The latest report marks the 74th consecutive month that Texas had a lower unemployment rate than the U.S. The national jobless rate was 7.7 percent in February.

The Texas economy has 11 major sectors and every one added jobs during February, according to the commission.

Some of the gains were small - 100 jobs each in information and financial services - but they were none-the-less gains.

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